Well, I’m glad you asked. Bayside Community Church is a church which not only meets on Sundays for the purpose of celebrating our Lord and Savior, but also during the week in various homes for the purpose of Christ-centered worship, edification of its members, relational evangelism, and discipleship with the goal of multiplication. These groups are the very livelihood of our being as a church and we encourage everyone to be a part of them. Do you want to grow in your relationship with Christ? This is where that begins.
We invite you to participate in this ministry as we grow our relationship with Jesus, ourselves, and our community. Look for name tags around the necks of various leaders or our display at the welcome table in the lobby at the service Sunday morning and ask someone how you can be a part of this ministry. Justin Barnes is Lead Facilitator for Pier Group Relations. Feel free to contact him at justinb.barnes@gamail.com.

Why are we a small group church?

Small groups were Jesus’ primary ministry strategy and the foundational infrastructure of the first century church.

Small groups meet deep human needs.

They can be the key to explosive church evangelism and multiplication.

A healthy Christian small group is a gathering of three to fifteen people who meet regularly together for the purpose of spiritual growth and outreach.

The goal for group size is 8 to 12. Statistically, fewer than 8 leads to difficulty in maintaining momentum while greater than 12 diminishes intimacy.

The groups focus should be: Upward, knowing God. Inward, knowing each other. Outward, reaching out and multiplying. Forward, new groups.

Genesis 2:18, “It is not good for man to be alone.” Humanity needs to be in community.

A healthy small group has the power to create community and connectedness.

Jesus invited a handful of men (12) to gather together with Him in an intensive, ministry-focused small group. Mark 3:13-14

Theologian J.I. Packer: “How can God’s one family, locally and denominationally separated, be enabled to look like one family?...By wisdom in structuring house-churches and small groups within congregations.”

Dr. Lawrence J. Crabb, clinical psychologist: “We have made a terrible mistake! For the most of this century we have wrongfully defined soul wounds as psychological disorders and delegated their treatment to trained specialist. Damaged psyches aren’t the problem. The problem is disconnected souls. What we need is connection! What we need is a healing community!”

Jesus: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:20-21